Charles Sherman Ruggles (February 8, 1886 – December 23, 1970) was an American comic character actor. In a career spanning six decades, Ruggles appeared in close to 100 feature films, often in mild-mannered and comic roles. He was also the elder brother of director, producer, and silent film actor Wesley Ruggles (1889–1972).
Career
Ruggles was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1886. Despite training to be a doctor, Ruggles soon found himself on the stage, appearing in a stock production of Nathan Hale in 1905.[1] In 1912, he worked in the stock company at Alcazar Theatre in San Francisco in a stage production of The Dawn of a Tomorrow.[2] At Los Angeles's Majestic Theatre, he played Private Jo Files in L. Frank Baum and Louis F. Gottschalk's musical The Tik-Tok Man of Oz in 1913.[3]
He moved to Broadway to appear in Help Wanted in 1914. His first screen role came in the silent Peer Gynt the following year.[4] Throughout the 1910s and 1920s, Ruggles continued to appear in silent movies, though his passion remained the stage, appearing in long-running productions such as The Passing Show of 1918, The Demi-Virgin, Ladies' Night in a Turkish Bath, and Battling Buttler. One of his most famous stage hits was Queen High, one of his last before a nearly 30-year hiatus, produced in 1926. He also played Peter Braley in Spring Is Here, which ran for 104 performances in 1929.[5]
In 1944, he had a summer radio series, The Charlie Ruggles Show on CBS.[6]
In 1949, Ruggles halted his film career to return to the stage and to move into television. He was the headline character in the TV series The Ruggles (1949–52), a family comedy in which he played a character also called Charlie Ruggles and was again the headline character in the daily sitcom The World of Mr. Sweeney, which ran for 345 episodes in 1954–55.
Ruggles returned to the big screen in 1961, playing Charles McKendrick in The Parent Trap and Mackenzie Savage in The Pleasure of His Company. In the latter film, he reprised the role for which he had won a Tony Award in 1959. In 1963 he memorably played the grandfather of the silent film star Corinne Griffith in Papa's Delicate Condition. Griffith had written the book of her early life on which the film is based.
Ruggles made guest appearances in episodes of various television series through the 1950s and 1960s, such as a time-traveling librarian in "Man from 1997," a 1956 science fiction episode of the television series Conflict, and a 1961 appearance as a wealthy neighbor who offers to finance a European trip for Hassie McCoy on The Real McCoys, in the season 5 episode "Hassie's European Tour". Ruggles had a recurring guest role on The Beverly Hillbillies in the mid-1960s as Lowell Redlings Farquhar, father-in-law of Milburn Drysdale (Raymond Bailey). Ruggles also played Aunt Clara's (Marion Lorne) old flame, the warlock Hedley Partridge, as well as a Mr. Caldwell, whose company marketed soup, in the television series Bewitched.[7] In Wagon Train, he played Jameson Hershey, the owner of an elderly horse, Herman, that joins up with the wagon train. He played Congressman John Canfield on an episode of The Andy Griffith Show called "Aunt Bee, The Swinger" and appeared as a driving instructor on The Munsters. Ruggles also lent his voice to the "Aesop and Son" features in Jay Ward's The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.
One of Ruggles' last television appearances before his death was a starring role in the syndicated television special The Wonder Circus, where he played Charlie Wonder, a retired ringmaster who talked about his life leading a circus.[8]
Personal life
His marriage to Adele Rowland (1914–1916) ended in divorce after two years.[9][10] He then married Barbara Guillan and they remained married until her death in 1941.[11][12] He married Marion LaBarba in 1942; the couple remained wed until his death in 1970.[13]
Charlie Ruggles has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one for his contributions to motion pictures on 6200 Hollywood Boulevard, one for his radio work on 6300 Hollywood Boulevard, and one for television on 1600 Vine Street.[20]
^Colby, F.H. “'Tik-Tok Man' Delights. Great Audience at Majestic for Premiere of Extravaganza--Magnificent Stage Pictures, Good Music and Girls, Girls, Girls.” Los Angeles Express, 1 Apr. 1913, p. 4.
